Category Archives: Online Marketing

First off it’s important to understand what hashtags are and where they’re primarily used.

Hashtags arrived on the scene initially with Twitter, now used a lot on Instagram and a little on Facebook.

Hashtags are keywords or terms preceded by # and when used properly can get people talking about your new product launch, an upcoming event or a specific topic.

You’ll notice I said when used properly. The following examples were originally posted on Instagram and shared to respective Twitter accounts.

The examples above were posted by an interior designer and a nutritionist. If the objective was to engage Followers and create brand awareness then it’s a big fat fail for both.

So let’s look at how to use hashtags properly and on the platform where we first came across them – Twitter.

3 Tips on using hashtags so that they are both relevant and good for building your brand online.

Use Hashtags To Get Followers Engaged

With Twitter gone from being a text only site, brands are using this to their advantage as in the example below with Lyons Tea who created the hashtag #LyonsTalkingPoint

Get People Talking About Your Brand

Hashtags are a great way of participating in Twitter conversations with people or brands outside your network and located anywhere in the world.

While the following is a fun example, the creating of a relevant hashtag is an easy way of getting people talking about your brand. In the example below, a lot of people took to Twitter when George Hook announced he was writing an erotic novel. The hashtag?#GeorgeHook

Widen Your Audience Reach

Hashtags also make sourcing information easier. An example is someone putting #citybreaks into the Twitter search box. If you’re a hotel or a tour company using that hashtag, the user will see your tweet – and the good news is they don’t have to be an existing Follower to do so.

So that’s it. Keep hashtags relevant, don’t overuse them, use a bit of creative flair (not that much it has to be said) and start building your brand on Twitter.

To your success!

Carole

Carole Smith is an online marketer who helps businesses learn how to effectively use the social platforms to grow their business. Her company, SynNeo offers 1-to-1 and group training delivered onsite at your location, via webinars or over Skype.

Are you using Twitter to promote you or your brand? To be successful using Twitter means at minimum you have a professional looking site and an understanding of the basics when using the platform.

The following five tips will go a long way in helping you establish your brand on the site and begin growing a network of followers.

1. Complete Your Profile

This is where you decide to use a profile picture or your logo. If you don’t use either many will choose not to follow as who wants to connect with someone or something that is hiding behind an egg head. Also, in your bio, remember you can use hashtags # with relevant keywords (makes you easier to be found) and have a link to your website/blog. Don’t forget to put your location in too. Some examples below for you.

2. Add a Header Image

The new Twitter header is much larger than it once was (1500 px by 500 px) allowing you to really show very quickly what your business is all about or to talk about the launch of a new product as in the example below from Tony Robbins.

Tip. Canva.com has a Twitter header template making it much easier to get really creative with text and images

3. Follow People/Brands Who Share Good Content

One of the biggest challenges is finding good content to share with your own network of Followers. One way is to find Tweeters who are compatible rather than competitive with your business, who are sharing good stuff that’s of interest to your network. The Tweeter will be flattered you’re sharing their content.

4. Keep Hashtags Relevant

Don’t go overboard with hashtags. Twitter suggests a maximum of two per post. While many younger Tweeters tend to ignore this advice, if you’re on Twitter in a professional capacity stick to the limit and keep your hashtags relevant.

5. Create Twitter Lists

Once your network starts to grow it becomes harder to keep track of content shared from specific Followers in a busy Twitter news feed. That’s why lists are useful. When you gain a new Follower it is better to assign them to a list you’ve already created e.g. Bloggers, Travel Writers, Politicians, Foodies etc. When you want to see content shared only from a specific group you simply go to the list you’ve created to do that.

The following short video will walk you through how to create and use lists

That’s it, five tips to get you started using another platform to reach out to a new audience and grow your business.

Over the past week I’ve watched a large brand conduct a ‘Like & Share’ competition on Facebook. Now what’s interesting is, it is an enterprise size company with a dedicated marketing department ignoring Facebook’s clear guidelines about hosting competitions.

Bottom line, you cannot ask users to enter your competition through a ‘like’ of your page or a ‘share’ of the promotion post to a personal timeline.Continue reading →

Like this:

Yet again we see the screaming headlines ‘Teens Abandon Facebook’ with subtext suggesting marketers do the same. One of the more recent reports is from an investment bank Piper Jaffray inferring kids are definitely over Facebook and moving in their droves to Instagram and Twitter. Their report suggests it’s because “teens are increasingly visual and sound bite communicators.”

Well yes, that makes sense as most kids use their Smartphone like an arm extension taking photos, creating videos often without much attention to accompanying eloquent prose. They could do that on Facebook I hear you say, so why the move away? Continue reading →

Lately I’ve been noticing more quotes, inspirational and otherwise, in my LinkedIn news feed and it’s beginning to bother me. Sure I sound grumpy but trust me I’m as happy as the next person to take a break from the daily grind/joy of work -just not so much on LinkedIn.

When I’m using LinkedIn I’m there for work, to network, prospect, respond to messages and to have a quick skim for anything of interest posted by my connections. Quotes such as the following just don’t fill that need, and anyway I get enough of it already on Facebook, thanks very much!

When I talk to business owners about how to build brand awareness and mention blogging as one way of doing it, I often hear “But who’d be interested in what I have to say?”

The reality is many of us don’t give ourselves enough credit for the kind of information or knowledge we have to hand. We assume others know as much as we do or they just won’t value what it is we have to say. However, that’s generally not the case. Why? Because if you’re passionate about something, whether it’s coffee, golf, or travel, you’ll immerse yourself in researching all there is to know about the topic. When you really know your stuff, when you love what you do, that verve comes across to others. You become the expert! Capture that passion and knowledge in a blog, and you become very interesting indeed.

Like this:

If you’re a big brand with a healthy marketing budget, you’re probably going to hire people to specifically manage your social sites or outsource to an agency to manage on your behalf.

However, if you’re an SME business owner you may be thinking about doing it yourself or having someone within your team manage it along with their other responsibilities.

First Steps: Find Your Brand’s Voice

Before you make your choice, you need to think about the ‘voice’ that will represent your brand online. The voice and tone you use should fit with your brand’s personality so that it resonates with prospects and customers. Remember, social media sites are more conversational so that means your voice needs to be authentic, ‘real’ if you like, so that people can relate to your brand. The generic or corporate-speak often used on websites is not going to connect with an online community.